


Smoke and Mirrors

by Bunnylope



Category: Ensemble Stars! (Video Game)
Genre: M/M, its halloweeeeeen boys
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-07
Updated: 2017-04-07
Packaged: 2018-10-15 21:14:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,926
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10557806
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bunnylope/pseuds/Bunnylope
Summary: It takes place during the Magical Halloween event. Natsume is doing some fortune telling for extra cash for Switch and Sora is helping him out-- but the air is thick with something plaguing Sora's mind on this Halloween night.





	

**Author's Note:**

> A very quick Natsusora drabble that I wanted to get out of my system~ I love the idea of Natsume reading Sora's palm. Enjoy!!

“Sora, how many clients are leFT?” questioned Natsume with a hint of exhaustion in his voice. Putting on the facade of greeting and smiling to the customers was tiresome after a while. Of course, he was used to dealing with the work of fortune telling for spare change due to traveling with his mother and learning from her. The line today seemed to last for an eternity and with every passing customer Natsume could feel his patience for this ebbing away, the only thing driving him to continue was the thought of the revenue Switch was receiving because of this.

The blonde boy peeked through the curtain, half expecting the line of curious visitors to still be piled up. To everyone’s relief there was nobody left, just an empty hallway with the ghost of a sunset lazily streaming through the windows and bouncing off the walls. There was a distant hum of party chatter which was due to the Halloween live festivities still going on. Tsumugi was probably waiting for them out there within the bustle since Switch was performing later in the night. Neither of them were in a rush to leave the sanctuary of a quiet room, though.

He turned back towards Natsume and shook his head tiredly while plopping down in the chair opposite of the unit leader. The only thing separating the two of them was an ornate crystal ball that had gotten the most use out of it in a long while. Natsume let out a strained sigh of relief. He was delighted that they got so much exposure but at the same time he detested it.

“Shouldn’t you be running off to go get into your Magician’s Disciple attIRE?” he started, looking at Sora for a moment and continuing with, “Not like I’m complaining about your presence or anytHING, but Senpai is most likely expecting yOU…”

Sora has enjoyed spending the afternoon with Natsume and helping him out. It was refreshing and astounding to see his Master at work, charming everyone who entered with his words. He was able to tell a story to everyone he came in contact with, intricately sugarcoating what he says and lacing it with his own special magic to allow the customers leave in a spellbound daze.

_Master really is amazing, isn’t he?~_ Sora thinks to himself as he loses his grasp of reality while daydreaming into the crystal ball sitting in front of him. He thinks about how the brim of Natsume’s witch hat dipped over his eyes when he was concentrating on tying together a fortune; how his voice changed to a more professional tone when relaying what the crystal ball told him. He thinks about how Natsume helped Sora try on the witch outfit, helping him with the zippers and baubles and charms that came with it, how he gazed at Sora when the outfit was all on...

“Sora,” the diviner’s gentle voice cut through Sora’s uncalled for thoughts like a knife.

“W-What?” he sputtered out, voice sounding just as flustered as he was on the inside. Sora was paranoid that Natsume was reading his thoughts, or that _anyone_ was reading his thoughts. He was shameful for falling for his unit leader and thinking these type of thoughts.

Natsume hums to himself and tsks the tiniest bit. “You were daydreaming, agAIN. It’s not good for such a talented boy like yourself to lose your train of thought so ofTEN.”

Sora found himself dragging his finger along the crystal ball, lost in thought, a quizzical look on his face. His sea blue eyes were glued to the swirling mist trapped inside the ball, doomed to an eternity of swirling around and around, searching for a way to escape. “It’s probably just the little spirits and demons running around~ It is Halloween after all, right? HeHe~”

He had hoped and prayed that Natsume wouldn’t notice this little white lie.

“Hm, are you sure it’s just thAT? Your mind does not seem like the type to fall victim to the trickery of spirits, Sora,” which is followed by a brief pause as he studies his underclassman’s face as though searching for something he cannot exactly find. “If there is something botheRING you please come to me instead of letting it fester and taint your insIDES.”

Sadly this was not something he could exactly discuss with Natsume. Sora had considered relaying his problem to Tsumugi, but the time never felt right. Now that this stupid crush was affecting his ability to put on a happy face facade it was really getting unbearable.

They were silent for a few more minutes. By now the sun was most definitely setting and draping the sky in a blissful purple darkness most definitely fitting for Halloween night. They both knew that there were people looking for them. Neither of them moved an inch to do anything about it.

The idea of telling him graced Sora's mind but it was shot down as quickly as it came. There were too many uncertainties and he wouldn’t want to make Natsume lose focus on a night where they have to give a performance. The underclassman wasn’t afraid of heights or scaling small buildings or even being open about his synesthesia-- but he was afraid of messing things up.

Being sad was uncharacteristic of Sora Harukawa. Everybody coined him as a happy-go-lucky child without a care in the world, a child who sings and dances to make others happy, a child who is confident in the weird person that he knows he is, a child who says smiles can cure any type of sadness…

So why was he feeling so broken when he smiles all the time?

Natsume took the crystal ball and moved it off the table thus breaking Sora’s thousand yard stare. “Hold out your hands while facing them up for mE,” he mumbles while holding out his own palms as if asking to hold Sora’s hands. He gave him his hands hesitantly-- they were small and delicate, a pianist’s hands, soft to the touch as Natsume gave them a light squeeze. He couldn’t help himself.

“I’m going to need you to clear your mIND, Sora, have it clear from as much as you cAN.”

“Master, what are you--”

“Talking doesn’t mean your mind is clEAR.”

With that finality Sora kept his mouth shut and attempted to oblige with his demands. It was quite hard to actually have his mind be clear, it turns out. He tried his absolute hardest but some annoying thoughts stuck and yelled at him which there was no helping.

“Now I’m going to need you to close your eyes for me, yes like that, good boy, good bOY.”

He set one of Sora’s hands down for the time being and clasped his right hand with both of his hands, which were rough and calloused from dealing with ingredients and chemicals for potions. Sora felt a tiny thrill from being able to hold his hand even though it was just like this. His mind started to wander with thought of him again-- how his lips curve into a sly cunning smile, the laugh he lets out once in a blue moon that makes his heart flutter, and now the way he’s currently tracing the lines in his hand with a delicate index finger.

“Mm, I may have found the root of your probLEM…” Natsume says it under his breath as if speaking his thoughts as they come. He traces a few more lines in Sora’s soft palm and double checks to make sure that he’s not just mixing himself up. Letting out an exhale as he finishes with that hand, he takes Sora’s other hand and checks his palm over there too.

Sora has a talent of being hard for Natsume to get a read on. Normally it was easy for him to decipher true intentions through their palms or auras but for some reason it was always troublesome to attempt Sora.

This pattern was too clear to deny, however.

A sly smile crept onto his face as he let the words slip out. “...You are one lovestruck boy now aren’t yOU?”

It took a few seconds for Natsume’s words to get through to him. As it all clicked Sora could feel a rock sink in his stomach that was once filled with warm lovey dovey butterflies. A sickness spread through him and made him shift in his seat. _He knows._ There’s nothing he can do about it.

Taking a trembling breath Sora refuses to confirm or deny it. In fact, there probably was _no_ denying it. Natsume is a talented enough fortune teller to know the truth at this point.

“Would you like me to tell you the rest of your fortUNE?” he asks, the snark leaving his voice as he realizes Sora’s predicament.

Sora’s mouth was filled with cotton and his voice came out more hoarse than he would have initially liked. “Why not?”

Natsume took a moment to hum as he collects his thoughts on how to relay the information to him. Normally when he did palm readings he left the answers as they came to him-- cryptic, almost vague fortunes that left the clients questioning what it meant or symbolized. He didn’t want to put Sora through that so he’s attempting to work through a simpler version that he could understand clearly.

After prematurely choosing his words, he spoke them like a true storyteller, gracefully and delicately interwoven together. “Everything built up that has been worrying you for so long, Sora, will be taken off your shoulDERS. Somebody will come along to help you lift the weight of the secret you are carrYING, and you will wonder why you ever even worried yourself sick in the first plaCE. You will not have to carry the burden for much lonGER… Love will come your way…” with a pause he lifts up Sora’s hand to his lips and presses a gentle kiss to his palm and continuing with his sentence he mumbles against his hand, “...Sooner than you may thINK.”

Their eyes locked together as Natsume gives his palm a chaste kiss once more and sets it down on the table. He tilts his head, the charm dangling off the tip of his hat hitting his shoulder, and gives a soft smile. “Did that reading solve any of your proBLEMS?”

Sora found himself frozen with a blush dusting his cheeks as he realizes what Natsume meant by all of that, the rock in his stomach dissipating, the butterflies returning once again. He let out a genuine laugh reminiscent of bright wind chimes. That was one of Natsume’s favorite sounds in the world and it has been a long, excruciating time without hearing it.

He stood up and held his hand out for Sora to take. “Our presence is past overDUE… Will you allow me to escort you to the festiviTIES?~”

His eyes darted from Natsume’s hand to his knowing smile and Sora nodded as he stood and took the offered hand, clasping it in his own. Natsume rubbed his thumb on his hand as the two exited the curtained room, walking with each other side by side.

“Mas-- N-Natsume?” Sora piped up as the muffled sound of the crowd grew louder as they walked through the halls.

“Mm?”

“Thank you~”

To that the boy let out a chuckle as he lifted up Sora’s hand and kissed it once again, as if he’s been waiting to do that for a long time.

“It’s what a magician dOES.”  


End file.
